It is clear that both Premier Pamela Gordon and Commissioner of Police Colin Coxall mean what they say. The so often announced "War on Drugs'' has begun.

We think that in the wake of the arrest of such a large number of street drug dealers, the public will be looking for action against importers and those people who finance drug deals.

There are some sensible things which could be done. Drug security at the Airport seems now to be relatively tight. That leaves two other major means of importation to be dealt with.

The first is the large number of yachts which pass through Bermuda. It should be made clear to people coming here in yachts that if any drugs are found on board, the yacht will be confiscated. That seems to have worked quite well in the British Virgin Islands. However, it would mean that Bermuda has to secure the yachts for search in a much better fashion than it does now.

In the past there have been suggestions that all yachts should be held in a pool until searched. Right now they simply come into Bermuda and wait around for a rather cursory Customs search. That is not adequate.

There is an old US Navy marina in St. George's Harbour on the US Base at the east of Marginal Wharf. We think that should be a Customs holding pool. It is not necessary to spend a great deal of money to create a new facility. All yachts should be required to report to the pool first to be thoroughly searched and then allowed to proceed to a mooring in Hamilton or St. George's.

That is not an unreasonable or onerous procedure and it would give Bermuda much greater control.

We believe that the crews on cruise ships are a source of drugs. It would not be unreasonable to make the cruise lines responsible for keeping their crews drug free. They should be doing that anyway. Hold the cruise line responsible if crew members are arrested for importation of drugs. We hold them responsible for oil spills.

Right now, crew members from ships wander ashore pretty much at will. They should only be allowed ashore through a crew gangway. That gangway could be equipped with sophisticated detection equipment for both drugs and guns.

Airline passengers already go through security checks and baggage searches and it might be sensible to have such walk through arrangements for cruise passengers. That is unlikely to frighten off visitors or to spoil their holiday. From reports in this newspaper, it will not have escaped people's attention that an increased number of cruise passengers have been appearing in court this past month for drugs. Clearly there has already been a tightening of checks on passengers.

Right now the water side of a cruise ship is open and unprotected. There is nothing to stop drugs being thrown out of port holes for collection by small boats. With the cooperation of the cruise lines, the Police should be able to curtail that, perhaps with surveillance cameras.

The point is that dealers will soon be back in action unless their supplies are curtailed.